Chapter ten: Birthday Card

Sam and Freddie walked in the Puckett house after a long day of rehearsing iCarly. Normally, Sam would go to Freddie's apartment after, but his mom was there and they just weren't in the mood to deal with her.

"Hey, Sam," Freddie said curiously, "there's a letter here on the table adressed to you."

"What? I never get mail." Sam walked over and picked up the pink envelope swiftly. She simply ripped it open without a struggle and pulled out the card. It was a piece of light green construction paper that read 'Happy Birthday' causing Sam to frown. She opened it and read the message, causing her to frown more. She threw the card in the trash and walked to the fridge.

Freddie watched her in curiosity. "Who was that card from?"

"Nobody," Sam muttered. "You want some cheese? It's swiss."

He simply walked to the trash.

Sam slammed the refridgerator door. "Don't you dare reach in that trash can."

He ignored her and pulled out the card. She ran towards him, full speed. He moved out of the way and she stopped short. She ran to the counter quickly and stood on it. Freddie had no idea what she was doing so he faced away and opened the card. Right as he did that, Sam jumped on his back.

She held on to him and tried to reach for the card, but he managed to keep it from her reach. He tried shaking her off, but she held on to him as tight as possible.

"Give me the card!" Sam shouted.

"No!" He yelled back.

"Seriously, give it to me. I put it in the trash for a reason! It's not even my birthday."

He stopped trying to shake her off. "I'll let you feel my bicep if you let me read it," he offered.

Sam shook her head. "No deal."

"Fine then, but I'm going to read it either way."

"If you give it back and never speak of this again, I'll go to the next Galaxy Wars convention with you-"

"I just want to read the card."

She jumped off his back and chased him around the house, he reached a dead end when he got to the living room. They were both tired, but not going to stop. Sam tackled Freddie to the ground and she yanked the card out of his hand, and she was about to get off of him when he rolled over and nailed her down, taking the card from her hand.

Her face showed how shocked she was.

"Sorry," he mumbled rolling off of her. He handed the card back to her polietely. They both sat up and stared at each other intently.

"Thanks." She grabbed the card back without hesitation.

"What's in that card is none of my business and I shouldn't have tried to read it without your permission," Freddie stated with a shrug. "I'm sorry."

Sam smirked. "You're such a goody-goody."

"I know," he laughed. "But I can't help it. My mom raised me to always to the right thing."

"I wish I could say the same thing," she whispered. The house was silent for a few moments and then Sam handed the card to Freddie. "You can read it if you really want to."

"Obviously, you didn't want me knowing what's inside, so I'm not going to read it. I know you don't want me to."

Sam glared at him. "Just read it."

"Okay," he said. He opened the card and looked down at it. He began reading. As he continued reading the loopy, black handwriting, his eyes grew wider.

"Sam," he whispered. "This is from your dad."

"Yeah," she nodded. "I know. He sent me a birthday card when it's not even close to my birthday. That's my dad for you. It's complicated."

"I thought he just left you and your mom. I didn't know you still keep contact with him."

Sam rolled her eyes. "I don't, okay? Can you just drop it? You read the card and you know what he wants. All he wants is our money. Like, I said- it's complicated. Just forget about it."

"Okay, I can respect that," he said calmly.

Sam frowned and lowered her head. Something was obviously bugging her. She didn't want to talk about it, though. She never talked about her dad, not even with Freddie.

He sighed and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in a tight hug.

"Sam, you don't have to talk about it," he told her in a low voice. "I know you don't want to, but I want you to know that if you ever do want to talk, I'm always willing to listen."

She nodded and hugged him back. It was the cheesiest thing he could have said, but it made Sam feel a little better.

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